


Empires Falling (At the Hands of Vengeance)

by pinkchangbin



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band), Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Fantasy, Gen, Modern Royalty, Mostly Gen, Other, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-22 02:32:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15571746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkchangbin/pseuds/pinkchangbin
Summary: Xu Minghao was merely 16 years of age when his entire life was ripped apart. His parents, the king and queen of Xu Province, were brutally killed under the attack of a cult-like, extremist royal society and the young prince was left alone to fend for himself. It's been four years since the incident - he's found a home, a family, and a place to be prince again - except now that he's old enough and has sufficient support, he's out for blood - avenging his family and home whilst saving the lives of potential victims. Along with his loyal partner in crime, Prince Wen Junhui, the two devise a grand scheme to infiltrate the nearest kingdom affiliated with the evil society (Centum Province, home of the nine young princes who do all the dirty work) in order to put an end to the destruction.





	1. Of Partying Princes and Tragic Pasts

**Author's Note:**

> \- To begin, this is my first time writing creatively using real people, so forgive me if my characterization isn't as accurate as it should be. The title was made in a rush and I'm probably going to change it at some point... also, I have no idea how this is going to end but I'm super excited about starting this, so please give my writing a chance, yeah? I'll work hard to improve !! (On a sidenote, I'm aware that this is quite short and most of my chapters will be about this length, this is the first time I'm writing a long piece so I'm still kind of new to developing a style.)

It was snowing outside; the intricate flakes of white powder lightly dusted the rooftops visible across from the long castle window. The boy sitting on the floor beside it sighed heavily, leaning his arms on the wide window sill whilst quietly observing the unfamiliar village bustling below. ‘They’re never coming back,’ he thought to himself solemnly, ‘and I’m never going home.’

  
**_** FOUR YEARS LATER **_**

  
He was trying to sleep, but the sun was being a nuisance as it shot its bright rays through the white silk curtains.  


“Prince Minghao! Minghao-shi! Hao Hao!” yelled an annoyingly familiar royal voice from the opposite end of the hall, progressively getting louder as the one emitting the shrill shouting came forth into the spacious bedroom.  


“What the hell Jun? Seriously - what do you want at this time of day?” Minghao replied groggily, squinting as he threw a pillow off his bed and at the boy standing in front of him.  


Xu Minghao was a simple boy, despite him being a prince and all - he simply required a sufficient amount of sleep, three decent meals a day, and a will to live in order to be satisfied with his life. At the moment, he was lacking all three of the basic necessities and was just about ready to murder his best friend and then himself. But he was a good boy and didn’t say that out loud (only in his head a few hundred times).  


Jun eyed him skeptically before continuing with a lovesick look on his face, “Prince Chan, the Bang Chan, invited you and I to his private birthday ball tonight! He only ever invites his favourite people, y’know! And I’m - I mean so are you, but I’m invited! I’m so happy I might just-” he turned around for a quick second to dramatically fan his face and feel his forehead, “I might just cry!”  


Minghao rolled his eyes tiredly at the spectacle taking place before him as he spoke, “Jun, you’re so damn infatuated with this kid I might just slap you back into reality.” He scooted off the plush bed comforter and grabbed his silver wire-frame glasses from the nightstand next to it, ruffling his jet black hair out of his eyes in the process.  


“Nothing wrong with a little crush, you know~” the other prince replied in a dreamy sing-song voice, “Besides, you’ve never even had a girl or boyfriend in your life! Go get yourself a lover, edgy boy!”  


“I know you’re my hyung,” started Minghao, “And like I respect you and shit,” he sighed for the nth time that morning, “But like get the fuck out? Yeah okay that’s all, see you at breakfast and don’t forget to wake Jeonghan up!” He grabbed Jun by both shoulders, shoving him straight out the door with a pained smile and shut the door as he headed to the bathroom.

 

  
**_~ LATER, THAT MORNING~_ **

Prince Yoon Jeonghan was considered to be one of the most breathtakingly handsome princes in the entirety of Carat Kingdom (which was divided into 13 whole provinces, by the way). He had the silkiest, shiniest, most glorious head of auburn hair that elegantly flowed down to his shoulders and smooth yet sharp features that made his subtle smile seem more like a smirk. His eyes were a whole different story; even the servants and maids had been caught staring into them for what was just a little too long to be ‘not-creepy’. He had one too many ex-lovers and tonight, he was sure to encounter at least one of them at Prince Chan of the Stray Kingdom’s birthday ball. Jeonghan took a hasty sip of orange juice from his favourite silver goblet as his gaze flitted towards a clearly dazed Minghao making his way towards the breakfast table.  


“You look like you could use another hour of sleep… was there something keeping you up last night?” he asked, seeming genuinely concerned as he neatly placed his goblet on its designated coaster. He only just seemed concerned, because following that, he broke out into a small grin as he spoke slyly, “...Or should I perhaps ask, was there someone keeping you up last night?”  


Minghao wasn’t having it. His brain was on a constant loop of, ‘I’m too fucking tired for this shit’ ever since the previous day. The previous day was exhausting and everybody was itching to ask why, but he really didn’t feel the need to spill, so he kept to himself and continued being 110% done with existence. He was usually like this anyway, except with more snarky responses and overused vine references.  


“I don’t have the willpower to roast your sneaky ass, so how about we just pretend you never said that?” he deadpanned as he began to spread jam onto a slice of toast.  


“Ugh, fair enough, but in all seriousness -” Jeonghan started, peering over across the table at Minghao, “-And I’m only asking because as your senior it’s my responsibility to make sure you’re not internally, or externally for that matter, dying - are you alright?”  


“I'm fine, thanks,” the other prince replied curtly, “Just had a bad day yesterday, is all.” Minghao glanced at Jeonghan nonchalantly as he spoke, appearing unbothered, deep down only he knew what was wrong. He knew it was very much possible that Jun had figured it out but chose not to mention it, worrying that it would make Minghao feel even more tense. Right then, a wild Jun entered the scene with his usual cheeky smile and perfectly shaped brows.  


"Good morning boys! Wonderful morning, isn't it? Aha, love is in the air and I am absolutely thrilled," Prince Jun announced, as he glided gracefully towards his seat with that same glint in his sleek, cat-like eyes.  


"Looks like our lover boy needs to calm down a little, no?" Jeonghan quipped sarcastically.

Minghao made a face that spoke for itself, as if it were mocking both the one in question and the other doing the questioning. His closest companions were fools, to say the least. He'd like to refer to them as, 'too flirtatious to function,' if that didn't result in weird stares in regards to his oh-so-funky word choice. He continued munching on his jam and toast in silence as he watched the scene unfold, it was distracting to say the least.  


Jun wanted to dance with Prince Chan, Jeonghan had his eye on Princess Jeongyeon, and Minghao... didn't care? Or he didn't want to think about the possibility of falling for someone so abruptly. His mind was kind of occupied thinking about other things.

  
**_** FOUR YEARS AGO **_ **

He couldn't stop sobbing, the tears flowing in streams down his hollow cheeks. He was merely 16 years of age and his life was being snatched from his trembling fingertips and ripped to shreds along with his heart.  


"NO! NO! MOTHER AND FATHER ARE STILL OUT THERE, I'M SURE OF IT!" he cried out in a scratchy voice coated with the sound of sorrowful weeping.  


He reached up to rub at his eyes harshly as he muttered under his breath, "No, no, no, no, no! Mama promised! Papa promised!" He shook his head ‘til his hair became a mess, sticking out in every which direction, and he couldn’t see further than his bangs would allow.  


“I’m begging of you! We must find them!” he pleaded in an exhausted wail, trying his best to hold in the salty tears that threatened to spill once more.  
The royal advisor shook his head solemnly.  


“Your highness, they are gone… the enemy has entered within our borders, we have assembled the army and our best warriors to take on the battle! You must-”  


“I’ll fight too!” Minghao interjected with a furious look in his eyes. “I will avenge my parents! I WILL FIGHT!”  


“No, you will not. That is an order,” Jackson, the royal advisor, replied sternly. His gaze softened as he gently held onto Minghao’s stiff arms, “Minghao... I can’t lose you too, I vowed to protect you, with my life!”  


Minghao lifted his head slowly to meet Jackson’s glassy tear-filled eyes; he suddenly felt as though his voice was caught in his throat.  


“I-I understand,” he began in what sounded barely like a whisper. “What do I do?”  


Jackson looked at him, his eyes filled with determination.  


“Run.”  


And that’s exactly what Minghao had done. Jackson had provided him with whatever he needed, and had told Minghao to run and never turn back. He had ran; he had never stopped running. His heart had ached as the realization of what his decision meant, sinked in.

  
**_~ PRESENT TIME, LATER THAT MORNING ~_ **

Minghao blinked a few times as he looked up to Jun, who was waving his hand wildly in front of his face. “Earth to Minghao? Hao Hao!”  
“Mmm, I just zoned out for a minute…” he replied, clearly still completely out of it.  


Jun gave Minghao another odd look before glancing at Jeonghan and faux-politely excusing himself from breakfast along with the black-haired prince. They wandered off up a few corridors and found one of the nicer balconies to go to. The view from the uppermost balcony was absolutely stunning; the royal garden was visible in its most flattering angle and the sun shone down upon the balcony itself, creating beautiful shadows and refractions of light against the glass wind chimes.  


“Jun-” Minghao started before being interrupted at once.  


“I already know what this is about, Hao,” the blond boy responded in a low voice. The seriousness in his tone was sort of startling, it was rather unlike him. “You don’t need to repeat it out loud if it only reminds you of what you want to forget.”  


Minghao could breathe in peacefully. He had known Jun long enough to sense that the other wouldn’t nag at him and understand how sensitive the topic was. His childhood wasn’t something that he could simply mention in any light hearted conversation. Jun had already known all of the tragic details, and Minghao wasn’t the type to discuss things that could only pull him back into the intense feelings of pain and vengeance. The King knew about it, Jun knew about it, and he knew about it. The other 10 princes didn’t need to know why Minghao was so sensitive about his past.


	2. Masquerade Balls and Handsome Henchmen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, the reader receives more insight on Minghao's tragic backstory and how he reached this point in his life. It continues on to a fun little makeover scene of the princes getting ready for Chan's birthday ball (with Jun and Minghao bickering as per usual) and of course, a serious scene that builds up to show off the undercover villains working for the 'Pure Blooded Royal Society' (the evil cult).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- The first chapter did quite well I think, as I've never posted any of my writing online before, so here's the second chapter to celebrate early! This chapter basically builds up on Minghao's character and the main anatgonists that we'll be seeing a lot more of, later on. ((Also, I love npc with my whole heart - them playing villains in this fic is simply because I thought it would fit the story line for fun!))

  


_**** FOUR YEARS AGO **** _

He was in a kingdom. Minghao wasn’t blind, he could tell any fancy building apart from a castle. The thing that threw him off though, was the fact that this was no ordinary kingdom - it wasn’t even supposed to be _real_ , for all he knew until now. It was all a rumor, a myth, a tale; he had only recognized it because of the bedtime stories he had heard about it growing up. The castle was the centerpiece, shining in all its luxurious glory. It was covered in clear zircons and delicately cut diamonds that all followed an extremely intricate pattern, which weaved its way around the building. _‘So this is it,’_ he thought; Carat Kingdom: a land of 13 provinces, one king, and 11 other rulers. In every version of the tale, there was always one more province than there was a royal to rule and take over. No one knew why, but there were several different interpretations of the story incorporating prophecies and legends and such.

The kingdom was known for taking in young Princes who were lost, forgotten, or were trying to escape troubled pasts; the king was the ultimate ruler that protected them and trained them for the day when they would be powerful enough to rule without assistance and separate the provinces into their own personal kingdoms. It was like being raised again, except with much more maturity and security. To Minghao, in his current situation, it sounded like the closest thing to paradise. He needed to live again, to breathe again, and then to fight for the home he left behind in all its chaos. He needed to be the 13th ruler.

  


_**~ PRESENT TIME, THAT EVENING ~** _

Jun stood in front of his wardrobe before letting out a long, exaggerated sigh, followed by a, “JESUS _FUCKING_ CHRIST, I’VE GOT NOTHING TO WEAAAAAR.” This was a very common phrase coming from one of the resident pretty boys in the household; it was especially common coming from Jun, who firmly believed that looking beautiful was the key to getting ahold of all of the right kinds of attention. Minghao once again, couldn’t care less. He was effortlessly handsome and had a knack for fashion anyway, so anything he did looked good. Jun was simultaneously jealous, impressed, and proud of the other boy who had become like his younger brother. Speak of the devil, Minghao appeared in the doorway to Jun’s chamber with a small half-smile and a knowing look in his eyes.

“Aha Junnie, y’know you can always ask me to help you choose,” he started sweetly.

Jun seemed skeptical at the sudden cutesy-act but went with it anyway, fake affection was better than none. That was until Minghao continued speaking, much more like himself,

“It’s not like you know how to pick out a decent outfit without whining and crying the entire time, anyway.”

Jun smiled back sarcastically, nodding his head extra hard while trying his best not to feel slightly hurt or smack Minghao upside his emo-looking head (the black bangs were too much sometimes). 

“So,” Minghao began, glancing at Jun carefully, “Who is it exactly that we’re dressing to impress tonight?” He stopped to think for a brief moment. “Prince Chan, was it? The one with the wild set of eight younger brothers?”

“Actually, he has one older brother and seven younger brothers-” Jun replied, before being rudely cut off by Minghao.

“So it is Chan, ah right of course it is - he’s the one who invited us, who you wouldn’t shut up about this morning… but I could’ve sworn you were head over heels for Princess Kyulkyung just three days ago? Ahhh, what is this,” the latter rambled aloud, more to himself than to the blond prince pouting bitterly in his direction. Jun hated when people criticized his love life, but he had learned to tolerate Minghao...just because he was _Minghao_ (his younger brother from another mother, who he loved a shit ton). 

A few hours and meltdowns (on Jun’s part of course) later, the two princes were dressed handsomely and ready to leave for the big ball. Jun had his hair styled up, a shaved layer was visible on the sides contrasting with the feathery layers slicked back atop his head. His eyes glistened with the lightly pigmented makeup applied by the edges of his eyelids and his cheekbones looked sharper than ever. His coat and matching pants were pitch black, which went nicely with his velvet collared vest that was dyed a deep plum shade. Minghao’s mop of black hair had been parted to the side into a waterfall of bangs falling onto the left side of his exposed forehead. He had settled for a smoky purple eyeliner as per Jun’s request, who had said that it’d make his eyes “pop”. His outfit consisted of a midnight blue coat, embroidered with silver thread and matching pants; his collared shirt was made of simple black silk. And of course, the two couldn’t forget their masquerade disguises - two intricately designed masks that matched the mood of the ball perfectly.

  


_**~ LATER, THAT EVENING AT THE BALL ~** _

The ballroom in which the party took place was on the uppermost level of the castle. The room was dark in nature. It felt as though it was never illuminated enough despite the bright blinding lights strung around each pillar holding up the high ceilings; this was of course because the interior was painted and decorated using a palette that leaned towards the darker shades of the gray scale. Minghao thought that it was fit for hosting parties for wild youth, the atmosphere matching that of a posh nightclub.

At the entrance, Jun had patted his shoulder goodbye and made his way to find the birthday boy and his other friends. Minghao stood by the back wall and sipped on a drink that had somehow ended up in his hands as he observed his surroundings carefully. Usually, he wasn’t one for this type of scene however, he had come along with Jun for more than just the sake of friendship. He was searching for something - someone, actually. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the eight princes and the king-to-be of the Stray Kingdom, but that he didn’t trust the outsiders that were slowly becoming closer and closer to them with each meeting. Outsiders to Stray Kingdom, but familiar names and faces to Minghao: the nine princes of Centum Province. 

Centum Province - it was affiliated with the destruction of his own homeland, perhaps not directly, but Minghao knew very well that they knew things they weren’t supposed to and that they had told the wrong people. They were being controlled by the higher-ups willingly. He had heard of the charming young princes that resided there, he had even once met Huang Minghao, their youngest royal when they were both children - when they had yet to take opposite sides. They shared the same name but were nothing alike. Huang Minghao was younger than him by a full five years and was too cheeky and sharp for such a young boy; when Minghao had learned that he was a part of the collapse of an entire kingdom several years later, he wasn’t completely surprised - just disturbed at the thought of how easily an innocent child had been manipulated over the years. Now, he stood in a seemingly inattentive stance in a dimly lit corner by a marble statue, empty goblet in-hand. Waiting, searching, watching for one of the traitor princes to appear. Under their masks, he could still manage to distinguish certain prominent facial features. He had practically memorized their descriptions from the information he had managed to collect in secret, sneaking out and about since he moved and was accepted as a royal in Carat Kingdom.

Suddenly, he felt a light tap on his left shoulder, on the other side of the statue. As he turned and made eye contact with the tall masked stranger, his gaze wavered in recognition. It was Lin Yanjun, the second oldest of the brothers he despised with such passion. Minghao was clever and clearly prepared, the other princes wouldn’t be able to identify him they way he could them. They hadn’t met him before, they had no resources to get insight on his situation, and of all the these facts: the enemy had declared him dead along with the rest of his family. He was sure of his safety.

The other handsome young man bowed and politely spoke, “I don’t believe we’ve met before. You must be Prince Myungho of the Carat Kingdom? I met briefly with your step brother I believe, Prince Junhui,” he stopped for a moment and smiled charmingly, “You look wonderful, by the way.”

Minghao smiled lightly at that, nodding his head respectfully as he replied, “Ah, so you’ve met Jun I see. It’s nice to meet you, I’m his younger brother, Myungho… I didn’t seem to get your name, though?”

The silver-haired prince standing before him flashed a dangerously friendly grin. “Lin Yanjun,” he looked Minghao dead in the eye, “My name is Lin Yanjun, it really was wonderful to introduce ourselves properly.” At that, he turned around and made his way back into the crowd, leaving Minghao confused and skeptical. A million questions were forming a whirlwind in his mind, one of them being if Yanjun knew of his whereabouts. _‘How would that even be possible? Jackson and I made sure to leave no trace… it’s been years too! It seems as though he knows more than I suspected - or perhaps I’m overanalyzing, he simply greeted me because of his acquaintanceship with Jun,’ ‘Now what?'_ he thought. He knew for a fact that he would eventually have to infiltrate their province through his connection with the Stray Kingdom, in order to figure out their future plans and who their hidden leaders were. But for him to be capable of doing so, depended on his plan on how he was going to gain Prince Chan’s trust and convince both him and King Seungcheol, of acting as a double-agent. Stating the cold hard facts in his mind sounded straightforward enough, but in reality, they were far from that.


	3. Of Case Files and Cults

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three essentially consists of the development of Minghao's plan; it's the aftermath of the strange encounter at the birthday ball and Jun's willingness to aid him with whatever he decides to do. The reader gets to watch the "big scheming session" unfold and can take note of some villanous names that are hinted at. (It's all fun and games until they realize how serious everything's getting.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // Wow, okay, so it's been a full week since I last updated and I'm sorry to anyone that I kept waiting (I think there's only like three people,, yikes)... this chapter is also admittedly shorter than the last and it's simply because I'm currently busy writing the next few parts, so I'm a bit of a mess with all the planning. Also, because I started another writing project (it's a long drabble) that you can also go ahead and read if you'd like (I'm posting it later today)! I hope that I can update again sometime this weekend and that you enjoy the story so far!

**_~ AFTER THE BALL, EARLY MORNING ~_ **  


“Jun, I need to speak to you!” Minghao called from his study across the hall. It had been a few hours since they returned home from the not-too-eventful gala and it was currently getting awfully close to two in the morning. Minghao didn’t plan on sleeping tonight, he planned on planning. The word ‘plan’ left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth as he was slowly getting sick of repeating it to himself in the process of… _organizing_ his thoughts and ideas. At times like this, his attitude was more blunt than ever - everything agitated him and he desperately needed to get his shit together.

“Yes, _your highness_? My room isn’t even a thirty second walk away, Hao! I have a face mask on, _what_ do you want at this hour?” Jun responded with his usual whiny tone, as he trudged into the lavish chamber full of books and bottled wine. 

“It’s important, Jun. You’re gonna have to sit down for this one,” the younger prince replied seriously, massaging his temples before he went on. “Do you happen to recall what I told you a while ago about those nine princes - of Centum Province - by any chance? How they’re the only clear connection I have to revealing the identity of the rulers of the _cult_ I suppose, that set off to ruin my former kingdom?” 

Jun looked a bit taken aback by Minghao’s suddenness, his eyes widening once he understood where the conversation was going. He smiled calmly, “If you’re about to tell me that Lin Yanjun is one of them, I already know.”

It was now Minghao’s turn to be shocked. His full lips parted slowly as his brows furrowed in confusion.

“I kept in mind the descriptions you told me about. I know it’s been a while since you spoke to me about them directly, but I had a feeling they would be at the ball since they’re higher up in the social rankings,” he paused before grinning, “I do research in my own way, you know!” he added on playfully.

Minghao cocked his head slightly, “So that was all a set-up? Does this mean you’re going to help me?”

Jun stared at Minghao like he was an idiot before opening his mouth to state the obvious, “ _Of course_ I’m going to help you! I’m one of the two people who knows everything anyway! Who else were you going to ask - Prince Vernon, by any chance?” The sarcasm was layered heavily in that last sentence. 

Speak of the devil, Vernon appeared by the half-open door of the room. “Who’s gonna ask me for what now? Oh yeah, Minghao-shi! I came to return this to you,” the teenaged prince went on as he handed Minghao a novel. “It was a good book… some deep shit in there, yep…” he glanced between Jun and Minghao’s slightly startled expressions before scratching the back of his neck. “I wasn’t interrupting something top secret, was I?”

“No!” both elder princes replied in unison. It was obvious something was going on as they both turned to look at each other aggressively. Vernon supposedly took the hint and as he was leaving the room, he made sure to announce, “Jeonghan’s birthday is in a week! If you’re planning a surprise party you bet your ass I’m helping!”

Jun turned to Minghao, half of his face mask peeled and folded sideways as he stated in a very gentle tone, “Fuck.”

The black haired boy rubbed his eyes as he leaned back in his leather armchair, “Well fuck, indeed, good friend. Vern is probably suspecting something - and how the hell are we supposed to manage another Prince’s birthday while executing a fucking mission?!” 

Jun ripped off the rest of his skin treatment and tossed it into the dainty little bin next to the mahogany desk. As he stood up to stretch, he made his way to the wall opposite to Minghao and rolled out a large map of their kingdom and all neighbouring lands along with an empty board, from behind one of the book shelves. “We need to get to work. Now.”

With that, the two grabbed all of the files Minghao had gathered over the years on the enemy and their associates - everything from clues to pictures to slips of paper, even lists of motives and potential targets. He was done mourning, now it was time to get going after what felt like forever.

**_~ LATER, EARLY MORNING ~_**  


The boys were seated on the floor, by the desk, along with their surroundings covered in papers and pictures. Minghao made it clear that the most effective method to carrying out his revenge plan, was by entering Centum Province. _‘It’s the easiest thing to start with,’_ he had said to Jun, _‘We can get friendly with the princes and act as the face of a new friendship while seemingly tagging along with prince Chan and prince Woojin.’_ Now, it was a matter of convincing the protective leaders of two different kingdoms to execute a death mission.

“Alright,” started Jun, “So at this point we’ve established that Centum Province has nine evil princes who do bad, _bad_ things and get paid big bucks… but they’re kind of in an evil royal society…”

Minghao looked unimpressed. “ _Society_ my ass! It’s a cult and they don’t get paid _that_ well, they’re just promised power and higher positions in the future.”

“Same difference, I guess,” Jun shrugged as he continued to pin different clippings from their pile of evidence onto the board.

“How about we start listing their criminal activity from the beginning of time? The map is covered with clippings and articles, it’s best we revise how to explain all of _this_ ,” Minghao stopped to gesture at the storm of cases and proof pinned down with red string on the large board, “- to the heads of two kingdoms,”

The blond prince nodded, “Okee dokee… let’s begin with the X Kingdom incident that occurred about seven years ago,” 

Minghao stood up and made his way to the other side of the board to ‘present’ the case. “At the ripe age of 16, Lin Yanjun, with the aid of the Pure Blooded Royal Society, went after the 7 rulers of X Kingdom,” he paused to read off the snippet of information, “Prince Yanjun attempted to poison King Shownu during the annual Continental Gala. Thinking it’d be simple enough due to the number of people attending, him and Prince Zhengting became friendly with the other princes of X Kingdom in order to find the king and kill him.”

Jun nodded and took over, “This incident was only an attempt, and it became clear who was behind it as Prince Changkyun - the youngest of X Kingdom - had witnessed the two other princes bickering suspiciously and caught on to the situation. Of course, the motive was to get rid of the ‘unpure’ king and then slowly go after each prince later on, and of course, the Society made sure to cover up the ordeal through threatening the destruction of X Kingdom.”

Minghao pointed at two small photos, “These images were captured as evidence right at the moment the Princes were acting suspiciously. The story was uncovered with the help of trustworthy _non-cult-like_ inside sources across several kingdoms.”

Jun grinned, “Good. Looks like we only have…” he paused and pretended to struggle with counting on his fingers, “- like 10 other cases to recount in order to prove to Prince Chan the dangers of his allyship with the boy scouts up at Centum Province.”

The black haired prince chuckled lightly and added, “Yeah and we have to make sure Seungcheol hyung agrees to our mission, he knows about Centum but it’s hard to get someone as protective as him to let us take big risks.” 

With that, the older prince yawned and ruffled Minghao’s head of messy hair. “It’s like 4 AM, just practice explaining in your sleep or something… we should head to bed,” The other nodded lightly, “Fair enough.” And that was the end of the beginning - _‘one step down, two to go,’_ Minghao thought tiredly. _‘Two to go and my will to live is already gone by the end of the first.’_


End file.
